whether
/ˈwɛðə(ɹ)/ conjunction, determiner, pronoun
- conjunction Introduces a simple indirect question (without a correlative). “Whether we'll be on time I'm unsure.”
- conjunction Indicates doubt between possibilities (usually with correlative or). “He chose the correct answer, but whether by luck or by skill I don't know.”
- conjunction Introduces a disjunctive adverbial clause qualifying the main clause (with correlative or). “He's coming, whether you like it or not.”
- conjunction (obsolete) Introduces a direct question between alternatives (often with correlative or).
- determiner (obsolete) Which of two.
Etymology
From Middle English whether, whather, from Old English hweþer, hwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaþar, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz (“who”). Cognate with North Frisian weđer (“if, whether”), German weder (“neither”), Swedish var (“each, every”), Icelandic hvor (“each of two, which of two”).
Webster’s 1913
- pronoun Which (of two); which one (of two); --used interrogatively and relatively. [Archaic]
- conjunction In case; if; --used to introduce the first or two or more alternative clauses, the other or others being connected by or, or by or whether. When the second of two alternatives is the simple negative of the first it is sometimes only indicated by the particle not or no after the correlative, and sometimes it is omitted entirely as being distinctly implied in the whether of the first.
Etymology [OE. whether, AS. hwæ; akin to OS. hwe, OFries. hweder, OHG. hwedar, wedar, G. weder, conj., neither, Icel. hvarr whether, Goth. hwa, Lith. katras, L. uter, Gr. katara, from the interrogatively pronoun, in AS. hwa who. Who, and cf. Either, Neither, Or, conj.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “whether”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details